I sit in the dark | 1001 Stories

#53 Margaret Bending I sit in the dark

Margaret Bending

Written after the death of a friend’s relative from Covid 19. I sit in the dark. The moon is so bright tonight. Venus too. It is a beautiful night. I go out for a walk in the lane. With the moon so bright, there is no need for a torch. The wind rustles through the forest, and there is an occasional owl call. The world turns. It is not only my own mortality I am feeling tonight, but also the transience of humanity. Modern humans have existed for about 200,000 years. That is nothing to a planet that was born four and a half billion years ago. So many species have had a fleeting existence upon its surface. Dinosaurs lasted for about 165 million years. How will mankind fare?

Precis

On 16 March 2020, one week before official government guidance, and just as Covid 19 was turning into a global epidemic, the Performance Ensemble went into lockdown. Our weekly company workshops came to an abrupt halt, and we disappeared behind our individual front doors. The easy ways of communicating, face to face, were no more. But we still needed to connect. Nine of the company started to keep diaries of their experiences, as a way of overcoming the isolation. Here they are: 31 days of lockdown, recorded during the months of March and April, beginning on 16 March and ending on 1 May, just as restrictions started to be eased. Edited by Barney Bardsley

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#53 Margaret Bending I sit in the dark

Precis